0:00:13.574,0:00:18.160 [ MARY REID KELLEY ] It was a huge [br]change to film at EMPAC with any 0:00:18.160,0:00:22.023 sort of technological assist you could want. 0:00:22.023,0:00:30.120 The film that we did before "You Make Me Iliad," we filmed partly in my parents’ basement and partly in our apartment. 0:00:30.120,0:00:33.068 - With a white undershirt and this shirt [br]you won’t be able to tell. 0:00:34.901,0:00:37.760 - Fancy pants. [br]- Totally. 0:00:42.037,0:00:49.860 So for this film, I invited my sister Alice and Alice’s husband, Micah, and then my youngest sister, Juliet. 0:00:50.777,0:00:53.000 - Brainy McBrainyton, Maximilian.... 0:00:53.000,0:00:54.223 - Max-milian. 0:00:54.223,0:00:58.677 - Maximilian Robespierre perfectly [br]memorized Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 0:00:58.677,0:01:04.872 Citizens bored by his hyper-verbosity, shouted [br]in unison, merde, sans chapeau! 0:01:04.872,0:01:07.958 - Okay, you know Jean-Jacques [br]Rousseau was an important music theorist? 0:01:07.958,0:01:09.040 - Yes, I know. 0:01:09.040,0:01:10.780 - I feel like I should sing this one. 0:01:10.780,0:01:12.681 - And you know what, what he did? 0:01:12.681,0:01:17.776 Oh yes, yes, please, please sing it. [br]Just sing, improvise right now. 0:01:17.776,0:01:20.416 - [ laughs ] Sorry. 0:01:23.210,0:01:27.320 [ ALICE REID PRUISNER ] We were always very creative [br]growing up. And a lot of what we did, 0:01:27.320,0:01:33.840 growing up, I kind of see in her art [br]now. We would create these elaborate 0:01:33.840,0:01:40.533 plays that we would put on that Mary, as the [br]oldest of course was always the instigator. 0:01:40.860,0:01:47.000 - So try singing your awesome [br]little tune with like perfectly 0:01:47.000,0:01:49.464 memorized Jean-Jacques Rousseau. [br]Citizens bored..... 0:01:49.464,0:01:52.745 - So like there’s a change in tone. [br]- Okay. 0:01:54.360,0:01:57.646 ♪ Brainy McBrainy to Maximilian [br]Robespierre ♪ 0:01:57.646,0:02:00.463 ♪ perfectly memorized Jean-Jacques Rousseau ♪ 0:02:00.463,0:02:04.993 ♪ Citizens bored by his hyper-verbosity [br]shouted in unison, ♪ 0:02:04.993,0:02:07.662 [ ALL ] Merde! Sans chapeau. 0:02:10.826,0:02:14.177 - Alice, show us your [br]throat-slashing gesture. 0:02:14.177,0:02:15.889 [ grunts ] [br]- Yeah. 0:02:15.889,0:02:20.834 - If I start out higher and circle below. [br]- There, that’s totally clear. 0:02:20.834,0:02:22.778 - Should I bare my teeth? Arrggh. 0:02:22.778,0:02:23.360 - Do whatever you want 0:02:23.360,0:02:25.657 - While I’m saying, "merde, sans chapeau.' 0:02:28.952,0:02:30.929 - That’s good. That looks really [br]good. 0:02:30.929,0:02:33.920 - I think Alice should go like this. [br]- Like what? 0:02:33.920,0:02:38.200 - Can’t see the actual like throat-cutting, [br]it’s just the hand, like this. 0:02:38.200,0:02:39.300 - Yeah. 0:02:39.816,0:02:43.016 - You think I should [br]use my left hand instead? 0:02:45.716,0:02:47.207 - One More? [br]- Yeah. 0:02:48.334,0:02:54.167 [ MICAH PRUISNER ] Brainy McBrainyton, Maximilian [br]Robespierre perfectly memorized Jean-Jacques Rousseau. 0:02:54.167,0:02:58.499 Citizens bored by his [br]hyper-verbosity shouted in unison... 0:02:58.499,0:03:00.935 [ ALL ] Merde! Sans chapeau. 0:03:00.935,0:03:10.009 [ JULIET REID ] She has always had an [br]interesting part to play in the entire family’s perspectives on life. 0:03:10.619,0:03:13.457 When I was in [br]junior high, she was bringing home feminist 0:03:13.457,0:03:19.140 literature for me to read from college. And [br]just giving me new things to think about. 0:03:19.750,0:03:23.920 - And I kind of want the [br]snow shakers to be up high. 0:03:23.920,0:03:25.149 - High? Like this? 0:03:25.149,0:03:27.939 - Like still on the [br]screen, but high. 0:03:27.939,0:03:30.301 - Are we recording?[br]- Yeah. 0:03:30.935,0:03:34.090 - Jelly tart, jelly tart, General Bonaparte. 0:03:34.090,0:03:36.545 Sentimentality worried all France. 0:03:36.545,0:03:43.968 He cried, saccharine tears on the banks of the Volga [br]while Waterloo waterworks spotted his pants. 0:03:48.165,0:03:50.269 - This is going to be a tricky [br]time for you guys 0:03:50.269,0:03:54.528 cause you’re going to have to put it [br]together and yell, "100 Voltaires." 0:03:55.725,0:03:57.712 We'll get you to scoot... 0:04:00.826,0:04:03.680 - And actually I suggest that we need to [br]start bringing our hands together to do the 0:04:03.680,0:04:08.770 Jacob’s Ladder before, so that when they, when it [br]comes together, it’s, bing "100 Voltaires." 0:04:08.770,0:04:16.386 [ MICAH ] I’m an engineer. So [br]I have little to no background in art. 0:04:17.231,0:04:23.833 And therefore when I see Mary’s artwork, it, it is always so different from what I normally encounter 0:04:23.833,0:04:26.280 that it [br]makes me think a lot harder about it. 0:04:27.125,0:04:28.921 - I think we'll be okay. 0:04:30.177,0:04:33.020 - So we’re not using [br]audio for this. So just... 0:04:33.654,0:04:34.340 - Ready to go? 0:04:34.340,0:04:36.533 - Yeah, I think, I think I am. 0:04:36.533,0:04:40.000 - Mary, could...since we’re not [br]doing audio, can you be like "and stop"? 0:04:40.000,0:04:41.933 - Yeah.[br]- Okay. 0:04:41.933,0:04:45.133 - Okay, I'll just[br]- Just hiss or something so you don't have to move your mouth. 0:04:45.133,0:04:47.938 [ crosstalk ][br]- Okay, yeah. Okay. 0:04:54.393,0:05:00.680 [ ALL ] Twinkle toe, twinkle toe, Dennis P. Diderot. [br]Dreamed of a government led by his heirs. 0:05:00.680,0:05:08.101 Nightmares so ghastly, so anti-Enlightenment [br]gave him the shock of 100 Voltaires. 0:05:08.744,0:05:15.040 [ PATRICK KELLEY ] Mary came across this map. [br]It’s this old map of Paris, pre-Haussmann 0:05:15.040,0:05:22.716 renovation of Paris. The design of this map is an [br]inspiration for making some of the buildings. 0:05:22.716,0:05:28.760 What we thought we would do is try to recreate some [br]of the architecture that you see in this map, 0:05:28.760,0:05:36.834 this sort of cartoon-like etching hatch-marking [br]architecture as three-dimensional models 0:05:36.834,0:05:42.040 so that we would have these objects [br]as possible virtual set elements. 0:05:43.754,0:05:46.921 [ REID KELLEY ] It’s so wild that they [br]had electricity to do this. 0:05:46.921,0:05:48.801 - That's the actual Haussmann time? 0:05:48.801,0:05:50.546 - Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 0:05:52.067,0:05:56.346 He wouldn’t put electricity [br]on the streets, he wanted gas on the streets, 0:05:56.346,0:05:59.263 cause he thought it was more [br]aesthetic. 0:05:59.263,0:06:01.858 But here, you want to see it? 0:06:04.064,0:06:09.361 And here you can see the texture of [br]the street. It’s like a cobblestone. 0:06:09.361,0:06:12.249 - Well yeah, we have that... 0:06:12.718,0:06:18.360 [ REID KELLEY ] I think that one of the reasons that [br]I’m motivated to do research and to do all the 0:06:18.360,0:06:25.640 reading is that it’s very much a set of values [br]that learning is good. Books are good. 0:06:25.640,0:06:27.568 Things in books will help you. 0:06:28.343,0:06:32.871 Who knows where it came [br]from? Probably in large part from my parents. 0:06:34.068,0:06:38.995 I grew up in South Carolina. I’m the eldest [br]of four children. 0:06:38.995,0:06:45.147 My next sister is Alice, and then my brother Dan. And [br]then my youngest sister, Juliet. 0:06:48.316,0:06:52.193 My parents met doing their master’s in [br]history. 0:06:53.109,0:07:00.445 My mom and dad or notorious for never just driving by a historical marker, we always pull over to see what it is. 0:07:03.379,0:07:10.460 In the South, at least in terms of the Civil [br]War, there’s this historical burden. 0:07:11.822,0:07:16.833 You’re aware pretty early on that there isn’t just one version [br]that’s accepted, 0:07:16.833,0:07:23.731 that people are kind of tugging at this historical record, 0:07:23.731,0:07:28.921 you know wanting [br]to manipulate the history, one way or another. 0:07:30.640,0:07:35.129 - Okay, that’s good. This shot is really quick. [br]It’s just a couple seconds. 0:07:35.129,0:07:40.000 So run out, put the chairs down. I’ll put the board [br]on. Hop on it, start doing this and kind 0:07:40.000,0:07:46.320 of kicking my heels. And then I want both [br]of you to kind of like lean over the chair. 0:07:46.320,0:07:51.475 [ REID KELLEY ] The director role is not something [br]that comes super naturally. 0:07:52.320,0:07:57.120 I think that’s one of the reasons I really [br]value getting to work with my family members, 0:07:57.120,0:08:01.135 it makes it easier for me to ask for what I want. 0:08:01.440,0:08:06.200 - Okay, good. Now, now when you do [br]that, like jostle each other like..... 0:08:06.200,0:08:10.125 - Yeah, like, here, I want the better view, [ laughs ] [br]- I want the better view. 0:08:10.125,0:08:11.937 - No, no, I want to get it.[br]- Okay. 0:08:11.937,0:08:13.726 [ laughs ] 0:08:18.492,0:08:20.490 - Excellent, we got it. Yep. 0:08:23.964,0:08:26.920 - Step back and [br]lay back down so I should see when... 0:08:28.117,0:08:32.620 [ REID KELLEY ] The entire concept comes out [br]of the research and out of the reading. 0:08:33.606,0:08:37.248 - See, 'cause I don't have a pillow, it’s [br]going to make it a lot harder.[br]- Yeah. 0:08:37.248,0:08:39.887 [ REID KELLEY ] And it’s my choice of what we do. 0:08:39.887,0:08:42.720 - So I think you’re going to [br]have to bring it around to the side. 0:08:42.720,0:08:45.811 [ REID KELLEY ] And then once we’re kind of [br]on the way..... 0:08:46.280,0:08:52.520 My husband Pat, is very enthusiastic to just [br]pick up whatever is happening and run with it. 0:08:53.013,0:08:55.100 - Do we want to be straight down? 0:08:55.701,0:08:57.601 - Uh, yeah. 0:08:57.601,0:09:05.880 - Is that about like this? Eric would it be [br]crazy for me to shoot from that gap right there? 0:09:06.561,0:09:09.040 - No, not at all. 0:09:09.697,0:09:16.880 [ REID KELLEY ] I never would have made that big [br]leap from being a painter to something as, 0:09:16.880,0:09:22.568 as complicated and as technically [br]involved as, as this work without Pat. 0:09:22.834,0:09:28.521 - Secretly, secretly Queen Marie Antoinette [br]studied her algebra all night in bed. 0:09:28.521,0:09:34.233 Scholars remarked that the mathematician her beauty [br]resolved to make knowledge widespread. 0:09:38.646,0:09:41.064 - That was it, yeah. That was great.[br]- Okay. 0:09:41.064,0:09:43.064 - Awesome. 0:09:43.792,0:09:44.823 - Okay. 0:09:46.865,0:09:52.376 Secretly, secretly Queen Marie Antoinette [br]studied her algebra all night in bed. 0:09:52.376,0:09:58.461 Scholars remarked that the mathematician her beauty [br]resolved to make knowledge widespread. 0:10:00.267,0:10:04.160 - After we shoot this and we’ll [br]shoot that. And then we have a break. 0:10:04.160,0:10:08.036 Then you guys are just going to have to hang [br]out, maybe eat another piece of pizza 0:10:08.036,0:10:09.866 while I get into Sisyphus. 0:10:09.866,0:10:12.885 And then we’ve got a [br]couple more larger, wider shots. So..... 0:10:12.885,0:10:15.654 - We have the baguettes, right? [br][ overlapping chatter ][br]- Oh, yes, and the baguettes. 0:10:15.654,0:10:17.381 - I baguette you. 0:10:17.381,0:10:22.923 - Yes, the dandy outfits, [br]yeah. So we’re doing good, but we got a lot more to go. 0:10:22.923,0:10:26.763 So... [ sighs ] So stay down. 0:10:31.693,0:10:36.840 [ REID KELLEY ] I love to put on makeup. [br]That’s one of my favorite parts of, 0:10:36.840,0:10:40.998 of making the work, is getting [br]to, to draw the face on. 0:10:42.243,0:10:47.275 My mother never wore makeup and [br]I was always obsessed with it. 0:10:49.200,0:10:51.699 The eyes block out everything. 0:10:51.699,0:10:58.958 When I look out of the eyes, I see very little, which is great. 0:10:58.958,0:11:07.040 And it’s, it’s helped me do the performance. And I don’t think I could have started performing without them. 0:11:07.760,0:11:10.235 - About in the right spot?[br]- Mm-hmm, looks great. 0:11:12.465,0:11:13.364 - Okay. 0:11:13.364,0:11:18.434 [JULIET ] What exactly is the [br]title? This syph.... 0:11:18.927,0:11:21.801 [ ALICE ] Okay, I always...Sis 0:11:21.801,0:11:25.501 [JULIET ] Sisyphus, that’s right? Sisyphus. 0:11:25.501,0:11:28.637 [ MICAH ] I’m guessing partially because [br]it actually rhymes with syphilis. 0:11:28.637,0:11:30.267 - Syph...Syph... 0:11:30.267,0:11:31.986 - The Syphilis of [br]Sisyphus. 0:11:31.986,0:11:34.532 - No, is that right? [ chuckles ] 0:11:34.532,0:11:39.128 [ REID KELLEY ] The title of the new [br]film is "The Syphilis of Sisyphus." 0:11:39.128,0:11:46.198 Most of the, the text from this film is just kind of the extended polemical musings of this woman, 0:11:46.198,0:11:51.101 this female character, Sisyphus. [br]She’s a prostitute. 0:11:51.101,0:11:53.788 At the beginning we [br]kind of see her getting ready to go out 0:11:53.788,0:11:56.877 and she’s doing her toilet [br]and putting on her makeup. 0:11:57.674,0:12:02.862 - So now remember when she starts, [br]she’s like not mad. 0:12:02.862,0:12:05.866 - Right.[br]- She’s, she’s almost sad. 0:12:05.866,0:12:12.711 But she’s bitter. She’s not like sweetly sad. She’s [br]not like resigned sad, she’s bitter sad. 0:12:17.054,0:12:20.193 - Pouting sad. [br]- Face right. 0:12:20.193,0:12:23.194 - I can actually see my reflection [br]in the camera, it’s kind of helpful. 0:12:23.194,0:12:27.850 - Yeah.[br][ indistinct speech ] 0:12:27.850,0:12:30.844 - That’s so Magritte. I didn’t [br]even think of that till just now. 0:12:30.844,0:12:32.950 - [ laughs ] It is. 0:12:33.443,0:12:36.360 - It’s like Crazy Kat meets Magritte. 0:12:36.360,0:12:46.800 Nature sold me a lie. And I’ve kept the deceit [br]on my face to remind me, her falsehoods repeat 0:12:46.800,0:12:55.524 like the seasons renew. Same advice every time [br]because nature can counsel me, nothing but crime. 0:12:56.040,0:13:02.320 [ REID KELLEY ] One of the things that I love about encountering [br]paintings is looking at them over time and coming 0:13:02.320,0:13:11.760 back and, and viewing it again. So when I [br]make video works I love the idea of people 0:13:11.760,0:13:15.640 coming back to them and seeing them over [br]and over. 0:13:15.640,0:13:19.718 And always get something new. 0:13:20.305,0:13:25.649 Her utopian swindles profess to be cures, but [br]in fact generations 0:13:25.649,0:13:31.331 while smeared with manure as a young naïve milkmaid in apron and braids, 0:13:31.331,0:13:38.638 I too was revolting on top of the barricades. [br]Praising the rustic I fell to gourmet 0:13:38.638,0:13:42.673 and my radical urges [br]were lost due to negligee. 0:13:43.565,0:13:50.405 Shamed by this lapse into luxuries error, I hid [br]my defections till this happy mirror 0:13:50.405,0:13:58.924 revealed a new cause for which Sisyphus shoulders the [br]burdens of charm crying: Make Beauty Boulder.